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Felicity looked considering. It was an expression at odds with the rat’s nest her hair had become while asleep against the squabs. “I suppose it isn’t unheard of, but he would have had to be terribly young when he’d had the boy. I wouldn’t put Thaddeus above seven and twenty years old.”
Truthfully, neither would Perdie. By her estimate, Thaddeus couldn’t be more than six years older than her. Although she’d spent the bulk of her education in the country, she’d interacted with enough young gentlemen to know when they were young and eligible.
Not that Thaddeus was eligible.
“Have you decided where we are headed?” Felicity gently asked. “Is it to be Brighton?”
Another rush of emotions filled Perdie. How easily Felicity and Hattie had entrusted themselves to her desperate plans. Perdie took a deep breath. “I thought about it and my brother. The letter I left him was most explicit in my hopes, but I know his character. He will chase me to drag me home. I am a little sister to be cossetted at all times, not a woman who could possibly think and decide for myself. We have several estates spread throughout England and Scotland. Even a chateau in France and a villa in Italy. I cannot stay at any of them for more than a certain amount of time. I might need to find a cottage to rent.” Just as she had implied to him in her letter.
“Where?”
“Here in England. Perhaps in Wiltshire. A small village where I can assume a made-up identity for a few weeks. I do not plan to be gone forever. Just…just for a while. We do need to rest while I plan a little more thoroughly. I was thinking we could visit Kent. Our grandmother left us the most charming cottage there in Dunston.”
“Will the duke not think of it?”
Perdie fell silent. “Perhaps not. We have not been there in years. He will believe I have gone to Brighton because I love the seaside so much.” And their father had also loved Brighton, and Perdie loved to visit the places her father loved. Though he had passed away more than a decade ago, she still missed him terribly.
Felicity nodded. “So we head to Kent?”
“Yes. I already informed Hattie.”
Felicity glanced outside the carriage. “Mr. Thaddeus will accompany us all the way there?”
Perdie frowned. “I have no notion what he is doing.”
The carriage slowed and listed to the side as Hattie drew them to the edge of the road. Perdie peered out the window, heart in her throat as she wondered what had stopped them this time. A moment later, a mail coach rattled past at a quick clip. The carriage shook. Perdie’s teeth chattered as the team of eight horses thundered past. To her relief, Hattie pulled onto the road once more the moment the mail coach had passed.
Perdie was saved from the suggestive conversation with Felicity by the subject of their gossip appearing once more. His breeches clung to his thighs, rendering Perdie momentarily speechless until he bent down once more to facilitate conversation.
Belatedly, she recalled that she wasn’t at all eager to see him. “Why truly are you still escorting us?”
He rubbed the back of his neck as if it pained him. “Come on out and ride and I’ll tell you. You can use Lionel’s horse. I’ll send him to sit next to your maidservant while we talk.”
Perdie couldn’t decipher the muffled squawking that came from somewhere to the rear of the carriage. Thaddeus held her gaze, his eyes warm with invitation. She should deny him. She should tell him to carry on wherever he was planning to go and leave her in peace. But perhaps riding atop a horse was what she needed to quell her current anxiety. So instead, she said. “Oh, very well. Tell Hattie to stop a moment and I’ll make the switch.”
Within five minutes, she was riding astride a docile, piebald gelding with her skirts hiked to her knees to display the breeches beneath. The cloth bunched in a way that was anything but ladylike, but she couldn’t very well expect a pair of men to carry a sidesaddle with them. Fortunately, she’d had a cursory lesson or two on how to ride astride and didn’t embarrass herself as she mounted under her own power. Thaddeus, who had dismounted and held the bridle of the horse for her, merely shrugged when she didn’t accept his invitation to help. He swiftly mounted and directed her to ride abreast of him in front of the carriage. Perdie scanned the bushes for good measure, alert for any lurking brigands. Upon finding none, she relaxed somewhat.
Thaddeus led them just out of earshot, something she confirmed with a look behind her to where Hattie was carefully holding the carriage shy of intruding on their privacy. Her lady’s maid was chattering on, the sound little more than white noise to Perdie, though it turned Lionel’s ears red. Satisfied, Perdie turned to address her companion.
“I believe you were about to explain why you’ve burdened us with your company once again.”
He put a hand over his heart as if wounded. Today, he wore no neat jacket, no topper or waistcoat. Only a worn linen shirt open at the neck and a pair of unremarkable breeches tucked into his boots. The Hessian boots were the only mark of money on him.
“You also did not answer my question.”
Perdie arched a brow. “Which was?”
“Is it not a man’s duty to see to the welfare of his wife?”
She rolled her eyes at him. It wasn’t as though she needed to confine herself to ladylike comportment while riding astride next to a man she had no intention of impressing.
“I am grateful to you for your assistance last night in acquiring us rooms, but I’m certain we won’t have the same trouble again. There is no need for the pretense to continue.”
His mouth twitched in what might have been a subdued smile.
Wait, why was she staring at his mouth? Feeling her cheeks heat, she turned her attention to the road once more. It was dreadfully dull, the dirt softened from the rain the previous day with puddles and wispy shreds of reeds sticking out of the ruts. The countryside was more of the same she had seen yesterday, stretches of fields with the occasional copse of trees. Nothing to quicken her pulse with excitement. Just plain English countryside similar to where she had spent her childhood.
“What makes you think you won’t have need of my assistance in the future?”
